{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T15:21:10Z","timestamp":1791904870297,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,10]],"date-time":"2020-04-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1586476800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004663","name":"Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["108-2113-M-007-014"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["108-2113-M-007-014"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004663","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In the absence of proper immunity, such as in the case of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, Candida albicans, the most common human fungal pathogen, may cause mucosal and even life-threatening systemic infections. P-113 (AKRHHGYKRKFH), an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) derived from the human salivary protein histatin 5, shows good safety and efficacy profiles in gingivitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients with oral candidiasis. However, little is known about how P-113 interacts with Candida albicans or its degradation by Candida-secreted proteases that contribute to the fungi\u2019s resistance. Here, we use solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods to elucidate the molecular mechanism of interactions between P-113 and living Candida albicans cells. Furthermore, we found that proteolytic cleavage of the C-terminus prevents the entry of P-113 into cells and that increasing the hydrophobicity of the peptide can significantly increase its antifungal activity. These results could help in the design of novel antimicrobial peptides that have enhanced stability in vivo and that can have potential therapeutic applications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms21072654","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,13]],"date-time":"2020-04-13T04:45:31Z","timestamp":1586753131000},"page":"2654","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":44,"title":["The Interactions between the Antimicrobial Peptide P-113 and Living Candida albicans Cells Shed Light on Mechanisms of Antifungal Activity and Resistance"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Kuang-Ting","family":"Cheng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chih-Lung","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bak-Sau","family":"Yip","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsinchu Branch, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya-Han","family":"Chih","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kuang-Li","family":"Peng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7611-1442","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Su-Ya","family":"Hsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hui-Yuan","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3331-691X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jya-Wei","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1247","DOI":"10.1093\/infdis\/167.5.1247","article-title":"Secular trends in the epidemiology of nosocomial fungal infections in the United States, 1980\u20131990. 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